The state of a vehicle door can be changed in various ways. For instance, changing a vehicle door from a locked state to an unlocked state has traditionally been achieved by turning a key within a lock mounted to the door. More recent vehicle doors are unlocked and locked using a remote control device. More specifically, a button is pushed on the remote control to lock and/or unlock the door via wireless communication. In other modern methods, a key fob automatically communicates with the vehicle when the key fob is within range, and allows the door to be unlocked and opened.
While such improvements have worked for their intended purposes, some disadvantages remain. Using the example of the key fob system mentioned above, passengers may arrive at the vehicle before the person holding the key fob is within range. Accordingly, those passengers are inconvenienced because they will need to wait outside the vehicle until the key fob comes within range of the vehicle.
Furthermore, certain bulky items, such as golf clubs, car seats, and the like, are repeatedly placed in and taken out of the vehicle. The user typically places these large items on the ground, unlocks the vehicle door, opens the door, picks the large item back up and places it into the vehicle. This can be inconvenient. Certain systems have been developed that automatically open the vehicle door, such as applicant's co-pending patent application Ser. No. 11/301,706, filed Dec. 12, 2005. In one embodiment, this system advantageously opens the vehicle door as the user approaches the vehicle. However, some users may desire a door opening device that automatically opens the door only for certain items.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an apparatus that automatically unlocks a vehicle door for passengers that arrive at the vehicle before the user with the key fob. There also remains a need for such an apparatus that also automatically opens the door under certain circumstances.